Woman speak

No, Mukta is not a feminist, for she believes that there is no need to carry boards and placards to make a point. And as far as apparent lesbian leanings in her works is concerned, Mukta doesn8217;t mind, for she feels that everyone has such impulses at one time or the other, only they are not open about it. So, in other words, her poems are straightforward, like her.

At 23, poetry is not just a diversion or a hobby for her, but a profession she intends taking seriously. quot;People think poetry is all about form, or four-line stanzas. But contemporary poets are writing about being in the city, commuting, you and me, relationships,lifestyle, about getting used to men you meet professionally but missing them over the weekend,quot; she reveals.

And that is what her poems are all about. While drawing inspiration from works of poets like Adrienne Rich, Gwendolyn Brooks, Derek Walcott, Rita Dove, Sylvia Plath and E E Cummings; social issues also find their way into her poems. Like the need for more public toilets.

quot;We talk about urban architecture all the time, but what about the need for loos?quot; she asks. Teaching English Literature at Maharashtra College, Mukta found students going to the reading room just to use the toilet there. Which finds its way in her poem Enter.

She loves Adrienne Rich8217;s who is even mentioned in one of her poems style of writing, specially her 21 Love Poems, which is an answer to Shakespeare8217;s sonnets. quot;She finds it important to locate herself as a woman, as a lesbian, as a cultural entity within a framework which dates back to William Shakespeare,quot; she says.

Adrienne8217;s influence can be seen inthe poem For Juniper and Other Friends, which is a love song exulting the effect a woman has on her. quot;If I am writing a poem for a woman, it has to be a lesbian impulse. People immediately want to highlight on that. Why should a poet be judged by a caste, gender or sexual preference?quot; she asks.

Writing, she believes, is a family tradition. Her grandmother, Asha Deshpande, published a book, Andharatil Taraka, when she was only 14. quot;Though by the time I was 14, there were no copies left for me to read. And somehow we never considered her a writer,quot; she laughs. But what her grandmother did leave behind was a stack of notebooks and letters 8212; her musings for the day.

Most of Mukta8217;s poems, like The Woman In This Poem Isn8217;t Lonely, were written in the train, commuting from Bandra to New Bombay. That is what lends a quality of freshness to her works, she feels.

Presently working on a short novel, Journey Through Madness, she feels writing is scary business. quot;One has just aboutbegun to say. And it is scary to be in the business of writing because meaningfulness continuously evades you in form and content and one cannot exist outside connectivity. Poets are doomed to suffer from anxiety and a historical inferiority complex. I think that is what makes them write, suffer, make, break, live and die.quot;

Mukta Sambrani will read from her book The Woman In This Room Isn8217;t Lonely8217; at the Audio Visual room, NCPA. On October 8, 1998, at 6.30 pm.